Milimani Chief Magistrate Wendy Micheni ordered the extradition of a Kenyan businessman, Abdulrahman Imran Juma, to the US to face money laundering charges.
According to the verdict issued on Friday, September 23, Micheni granted the orders allowing US authorities to open charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
Juma was allegedly part of an international fraud scheme that conspired to swindle a tycoon who was seeking to invest in a multimillion project to construct a school in Qatar.
According to court papers, Juma orchestrated the scheme that saw the businessman lose over Ksh1.1 billion.
“The fugitive is said to be part of a syndicate that orchestrated a scheme with his co-conspirators who are already before the United States District Court for the Central District of California to defraud a victim who was seeking a lender to invest in a project to build a school,” report from the office of Director of Public Prosecution read in part.
While issuing the orders, the judge maintained that there was no evidence to show that Juma will not receive a fair trial in the US.
Juma, however, through his lawyers, lodged an application seeking to reverse the orders. The prosecution side, nonetheless, opposed his bid to extend his bail term.
The judge slated Monday, September 26, for delivering a verdict on Juma’s plea.
According to court papers filed in the US, Juma reportedly worked with Nigerian influencer Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, to defraud the tycoon.
He allegedly built the entire network and brought the Nigerian influencer on board, hatched the idea in Nairobi before pitching it to Hushpuppi, who gladly accepted it.
Hushpuppi went ahead to recruit other individuals from Nigeria, including a police commissioner.
“On November 12, 2019, the financial adviser and the victim travelled to Kenya to meet in person with Juma,” an FBI agent stated in a filed affidavit.
“During the meeting, the victim signed a contract with the company underlining that the victim was responsible for paying a consultancy fee of Ksh24 million through a law firm located in Kenya,” the FBI added.
FBI later tricked him into arrest before the multi-billion fraud syndicate was exposed.
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